FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

Backups Movin’ Up

Breakdown: These are guys who are likely on rosters, but are on the bench for the most part unless in deep leagues. Circumstances are favorable for them to move into the starting lineup for your fantasy team, at least for the coming week.

Brett Favre (MIN) – Things are going to be very interesting next weekend. Brett Favre faces Green Bay at home – on Monday night. In other words, the entire football watching community is going to be glued to one of the more entertaining football stories of our day, and the game itself shouldn’t disappoint. From a fantasy standpoint Favre was quite disappointing for the most part the first couple of weeks and in some leagues was even dropped after owners, giving him a gamble on draft day, unloaded for bigger things, or so they imagined. Then came week three, and Favre started actually throwing the ball deep a little bit. This was something some wondered if he still had the capacity to do, and evidently he does. A two touchdown, three hundred yard performance later and it would seem that the sky is now the limit. It would stand to reason that Brett Favre would be drooling about the prime time, high profile matchup against his former team, and it would also stand to reason that the team would be making plans to air it out on plenty of occasions to give Favre the chance to show up the Packers. Now would be a nice time, with the likes of Warner, Ryan and the hot Kevin Kolb on the bench with a bye next week, to put Favre in the lineup and reap the benefits.

Jason Campbell (WAS) – The loss to Detroit and the relative free-fall his team is experiencing notwithstanding, Jason Campbell has actually been performing relatively well. He hasn’t had many passing touchdowns but seems to have reignited his connection with Santana Moss, something that was missing for the most part in the first two weeks of the season. He has 793 yards passing with three TDs and two INTs in his first three games, putting him square among the passing yardage leaders, so isn’t being held in check on that front. While the team definitely has issues, they don’t seem to be hurting Campbell too much, in fact they seem to be motivating him to improve each week. He has a nice mix of veteran and young receivers as well as a great tight end, so options are plentiful, a plus for a quarterback of course. The hot seat in Washington at the moment is on the coach, not the quarterback, so his spot is relatively secure for now, and he serves as a great backup, if not starting option as bye weeks begin.

Waiver Wire Radar

Breakdown: These are guys who more than likely are not residing on many, if any, rosters. They are in situations that are favorable for possible fantasy impact in the not too distant future.

Kyle Boller (STL) – The demise of Marc Bulger may or may not be permanent, but there is plenty of speculation that a move may be about to take place. If it does happen, Boller has even more upside, but even if not, he’s a viable option for the next week or two. While his quick success this weekend was short lived, he showed two primary things. One, he is capable of getting the job done – at least from a fantasy standpoint – and two, he is capable of bringing much needed energy to an offense that is on relative life support. It is tough to think of Boller as a possible gunslinger of any sort, considering his days in Baltimore, but that was as much due to the Raven’s overall game plan, which was primarily oriented around a ground game. St. Louis is a team that relies much more on the passing game and has a couple of receivers that are capable of getting the job done. While he won’t make you forget about Drew Brees any time soon, he’s a far cry better option on your bench than the likes of JaMarcus Russell or Marc Bulger at this point.

Chad Henne (MIA) – We know two things. One, Chad Pennington is out for the season. Two, Chad Henne is about to get his chance at starting stardom. The Dolphins aren’t an extremely aerial team, so they won’t expect Henne to air it out a ton, but he can, and will on occasion. With solid receivers like Ginn, Bess, Camarillo and Hartline, he has plenty of options, and the running game is one of the better ones in the league, so all is in place to help him be successful. He won’t be a top fantasy point maker, but he’ll be solid and should be a nice number two guy for your roster, or the occasional bye week start. Some guys may flock to grab Pat White, but the job is Henne’s for a while, unless of course he gets hurt or throws five or six INTs in a game. In other words, take the safe option, not the flashy option.

…And On The Slide – Quick Hits

Breakdown: With the season in full swing and bye weeks about to begin, we felt it time to add a bit of the ‘flip side’ to our movers review. These are guys who are relatively well known, but whose stock is most definitely not moving in the right direction – with just a quick hit as to my personal thoughts on the matter.

JaMarcus Russell (OAK) – Simply put, this guy is getting worse, from a starting point of bad. That is exactly opposite of what young quarterbacks are supposed to do. Unless a miracle occurs, there will not be any valid reasons to have Russell on a fantasy roster this, or any, year.

Marc Bulger (STL) – There are a lot of folks with a lot of good feeling toward Bulger, as he’s been a fighter and has performed well at times in his career. The fact is, this team isn’t helping him, and it could be possible that he’s seen his last game under center for the Rams. Even if he hasn’t, he’s likely going to miss a couple of weeks, and with the way his season has started…fantasy owners shouldn’t be anywhere near the guy.

Chad Pennington (MIA) – Pennington is a great guy, and he is capable as an NFL quarterback. That is, an NFL quarterback, not a fantasy quarterback. Now, with another in a long line of injuries, he may have just played his last down, at least for this year. Even if not, by the time he can play again the team may have figured out that either Henne or White is the future and that they need to press forward. Either way, Pennington’s fantasy relevance – what little there was, is finished.